My newspaper column on the UCC ad situation....

[flowomo]

I wrote my weekly newspaper column on CBS/NBC's refusal to accept the United Church of Christ's "welcome" ad. Though you might be interested in seeing it. Story ran in today's newspaper (The Sentinel, Carlisle PA). Here is the online version:

http://cumberlink.com/articles/2004/12/02/editorial/rich_lewis/lewis01.txt

[Pacifist Patriot]

1. Thank you for sharing that.

[bobbieinok]

2. good column....is online version same as printed????

[flowomo]

3. yes.... exactly the same

[Joy Anne]

4. way cool

I've passed your column around.
I've communicated with WHP, which aired the commercials last spring with "an excellent response," and someone else talked to WGAL, which is also nonplussed.

Joy in Enola

[flowomo]

5. I assume you're in central PA.....

hi!

[Joy Anne]

10. and you beat the Patriot-News, too

Wonder if they'll have some commentary tomorrow. They ran a truncated version of the AP story this morning.

[flowomo]

6. oh, missed the Enola! Sorry.

Yes, Herrold told me about the tests....

[Maat]

7. Great article.

Thanks for sharing that.

[flowomo]

8. thank you for reading it!

[Maat]

9. Hey, thanks for your thoughts.

And thanks for helping me educate my child. What a gift you have! Prosperity to you!

[hvn_nbr_2]

11. How cool!

I grew up in Carlisle, delivered the Sentinel for six years, and went to the first UCC there from third grade until I moved away after college.

[flowomo]

12. wow! where are you now?

I teach at Dickinson.

[hvn_nbr_2]

13. Silicon Valley, California

Been in California since 1978, Bay area since 1988.

[flowomo]

14. we came to Carlisle in 1980....

when my wife landed a job at Dickinson. Anyone here you would still know that I can say hi to for you?

[hvn_nbr_2]

15. We should probably take this private

We're probably boring everyone else talking about Carlisle. I'll try the little icon to send you email -- never did that but I presume it works.

[hvn_nbr_2]

16. Well, I tried...

to send you email, but I don't have enough posts to use that feature.

[flowomo]

17. I sent you one....

[Joy Anne]

18. hey, wait

Some of us are very interested in discussions about Carlisle! And hvn, you're welcome to move back at any time. (Living's a lot cheaper here!)

[hvn_nbr_2]

19. Carlisle and San Francisco

I have fond memories of growing up in Carlisle, but it would take a lot to entice me back from the San Francisco area. Three things: weather, hi tech, and openness/weirdness.

You know about the weather.

My friends work at places like Google, Yahoo, Oracle. I work at a software startup. Walk past Adobe headquarters at lunch time, and on the way to work drive past more places than I can count that you probably have their software on your computer.

Half my friends are bisexual; the guys teasingly blow kisses at me because I'm straight. Many are polyamorous. Some friends are post-op transexuals. All sorts of kinkiness. I can't think of anyone offhand that goes to an "ordinary" church (unless you count Unitarian as ordinary), but lots of pagans, witches, shamans, New Thought, various sorts of eclectics like me. We have all sorts of weird events like the Bay to Breakers race (otherwise known as Bare to Breakers), Folsom Street Fair, PantheaCon (pagan, old religions convention). Probably no more than two or three people in my whole company voted for Bush. I'll stop now.

[Joy Anne]

20. hey, but look what you're missing:

Amish (I bet you hardly ever see a horse and buggy)
Snow (well, I'd miss it)
$100,000 houses (other than those already declared unfit for human habitation)
State Stores
People you can feel to the left of

[hvn_nbr_2]

21. I never saw a horse and buggy in Carlisle.

You had to go to Lancaster County to see that.

Snow--I can SEE snow in the hills above Fremont and on Mount Hamilton. If I want to be in it, I have to drive 15 miles to the Santa Cruz Mountains. It even snowed in San Jose once about 15 years ago. Stayed on the ground an hour or so.

$100K houses?? Hmmm, well, uh... I bought a condo for $69K in 1978. You may be able to buy a one-car garage in San Francisco for that, but I'm not sure.

State stores, ah state stores. I remember once trying to buy wine at one. This was back before they started putting some things out for public display and browsing. They had this massive, impressive wine list, so I picked out what I wanted, the guy went back to get it, and they didn't have it. Same thing for about the next five selections. Finally, he stood back in the warehouse area and I yelled out choices to him. About the tenth choice, they finally had one. Here, if Trader Joe's or Safeway doesn't have it, I can go up to Napa or Sonoma to the freepin' winery.

Lefties, well, I'm a bit left of most people even here.

But I'm kind of having fun with this thread. Hope not too many people are too bored with this tangent.

[Joy Anne]

22. Things have changed

The Amish have been expanding in their never-ending search for affordable farmland. There are lots of them in Upper Dauphin County now; when I was a kid, they weren't there. Lots of them aren't on the farms anymore; half the carpenters working on the development that used to be a woods across a "crick" from me were Amish. (They came in other guys' trucks, not on horseback.)

Another change: straight suburban sprawl from here into Silver Spring Twp. Konhaus Farms is no more--it's all McMansions. The Hempt horse farm is still there, however, I guess because they make so much money selling gravel and concrete to the developers. Carlisle has been gentrified and looks cute as a button.

And you can still buy a nice condo for that price here.